"Right. So, this is everything?" Angel asked, glancing at the two pieces of paper on the desk in front of him, the translations to both versions of the ritual.

"That's it," Wesley agreed, placing the black bag with the candles and other items needed on the desk as well.

"Okay then. I guess I'll get going. I doubt you'll find anything but keep looking for a way to help the people here who've been affected. Maybe there's a way to contain it or buy us some time until the ritual is done. I don't want any more people freaking out and trying to kill each other."

Angel stood up and shrugged his jacket on then paused.

"You should probably lock the door to your office. I know how engrossed you get in research and you don't want anyone sneaking up on you."

"I used to be a Watcher, and for Faith no less. I think I can handle a disgruntled employee," Wes said calmly.

Angel smirked and adjusted his collar. "Right."

"Angel," Wes said, gaining his Boss' attention again, "what you said earlier—about a wild goose chase—do you really believe that?"

Angel sighed as he met his concerned friend's eyes.

"I just think, with everything that's happened, looking at the big picture, maybe it's time to let it go. I'm not even sure it's an option anymore or if it's even the right one. I'm just tired, Wes. Tired of hoping that the next big fight is bringing me one step closer to that goal while the world falls apart around me."

"Is this," Wes sighed and Angel waited, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Is this because of Buffy?"

Angel remained silent and stoic before clearing his throat. "No. I mean why would it be?"

"It's just," Wes said, "with her coming here to get Spike back and the news that they're—" he broke off, as Angel looked away with a small grimace. "I know you've always seen the opportunity to become mortal as hope that you two—"

"It's not," Angel interrupted, "it's not about that. That wasn't the whole reason, and it's not because she and Spike—" he broke off with another sigh. "Just, trust me on this, Wes. It's better this way. No more risk of me losing my soul and becoming Angelus again, right? That's a plus in my book."

"Angel, I understand that, but knowing that you've lost your belief in what we're doing concerns me."

"I haven't lost my belief in fighting the good fight, Wes. If I had I wouldn't be here trying to make a difference and I certainly wouldn't be on my way to stop this latest catastrophe. Even if I wasn't—cynical about the Shanshu prophecy, it wouldn't change what I have to do now. Speaking of which, I really need to get going on that."

"Ah, right."

Wesley nodded and headed for the door again while Angel turned his back, staring down at the translations on his desk again. He heard the door close behind Wes and pinched the bridge of his nose to dull the oncoming headache he could feel. This had to be dealt with now.

***

Spike watched Buffy stroke her sister's hair as she sat next to where Dawn lay, strapped down on a gurney and still unconscious from the sedative. Andrew lay on another gurney on Dawn's other side. He was awake however, and wriggling under his restraints. Someone had gagged him, muffling his attempts to shout and curse which was a relief. A torrent of nerd rage was a nuisance they didn't need. Spike tilted his head as he watched the strong and powerful warrior woman dote on her younger sister, leaning in to whisper comforting words to her. It reminded him of those days in Sunnydale, and the way she cared for him when the chip almost killed him, and after the First captured him, when she brought him home and helped him get better.

She came for me again, he thought, still not quite believing this was real.

Spike remembered Angel's words, telling Spike he had people who cared about him and wanted him back, people he had to protect, telling him not to let them down. He wouldn't let them down. He'd been a bit—lost since returning from the dead to find himself in Angel's playground. He needed to focus on what was important. What was important? Simple, Buffy and Dawn, his girls—but there was still something bugging him.

Everything with Angel back there in his office was just so out of character from what Spike was used to. Granted he hadn't spent all that much time around his grandsire after the poof had been cursed with a soul, but still. He never just let go of something he wanted, and he definitely never stood aside for Spike. The whole reason Spike had worn the amulet in the Hellmouth was because Angel didn't want to risk wearing it. Angel needed to know what he was letting himself in for. The ritual to bind the demon and soul was still unclear. Why would Angel be willing to do something like that without knowing the full extent of the consequences? Spike rubbed his temple as he tried to work out why Angel had said what he'd said, and why it was bugging him so much.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked.

"Huh? Oh," Spike looked up at her and dropped his hand, "uh yeah, fine. Just thinkin' too much I guess. Not really known for doing much of that," he said with a small smile, "givin' me a bit of a headache."

"A headache?" Buffy asked, walking over and placing her hand on Spike's head, teasing her fingers through his hair.

Spike closed his eyes, enjoying her touch. He placed his hands on her waist and ran his thumbs under her shirt, tracing her bare skin.

"Headaches for you usually mean your brain is being fried with electricity or you're seeing ghosts," she said, sounding concerned.

"Not this time, luv. Just run of the mill headache from," Spike looked around the room, glanced at Dawn and Andrew and sighed, "dealing with another disaster. Bein' the bad guy was easy. Fighting for the good team, there's people to care about, time running against you—great honkin' responsibilities."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, following his eyes over to Dawn. "It's rough being one of the good guys." She turned back to him with a little grin. "Of course when you were bad it led to lots of ass kicking and humiliation."

Spike grinned back at her and pulled her a bit closer.

"True. Not that I have any complaints about you kicking my ass. That's the consolation to this white hat thing too. When push comes to shove, you rise above it and you win. It's fun to be on the ass kicking side with you."

"Too bad we won't be doing much of that this time around," Buffy said. "I'd give anything to have something to do instead of just sitting here." Buffy pulled away and walked back over to Dawn. "It's like Mom all over again," Buffy whispered, hugging herself.

Spike got up and stepped behind her, wrapping her in his embrace and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I hate feeling helpless. Just waiting around—it doesn't suit the Slayer side of me."

"Or the impatient Buffy side," Spike teased, and she gave him a look over her shoulder that turned into a soft smile. "Tell you what, in a place like this there's bound to be lots of demon employees roaming around that have flipped their lids just like Harmony, and there are only so many security guards. How bout I go and find Fred and get her to come down here and keep an eye on those two and we can round up the crazy demons causing havoc?"

Buffy twisted around in his arms to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. It gives us both something to do instead of just cooling our heels and from the looks of the place earlier they need all the help they can get to get things under some form of control again. Not to mention all that excess energy I still need to burn off."

"Sounds like a plan. But I guess we should avoid killing any of Angel's employees, huh?"

Spike dropped a kiss to her head and started backing up towards the door. "We should, but there's a few demons out there that aren't entirely harmless on a good day and under the circumstances if it becomes necessary…"

He trailed off and Buffy rolled her eyes before giving him another smile and turning back to Dawn. Spike paused in the doorway, looking at the sisters again and giving the still struggling Andrew one more glance before leaving.

***

He didn't know why he hadn't just kept on walking when he saw the open door to Angel's office. He'd found Fred, and she'd agreed to go keep an eye on Dawn and Andrew once she gathered her notes and some extra sedative just to be safe. Spike was heading back to Buffy when he saw the open door and something seemed to pull him towards it. Now he was leaning in the doorway staring at Angel's desk without really seeing it, lost in his thoughts again.

Standing here, the nagging feeling he'd had was back, even stronger now. He kept replaying the conversation from earlier. The decision on which form of ritual to do, Gunn's news that the cat was gone which meant the Senior Partners had vanished, afraid they'd be at risk even though they should have known the team wouldn't risk the city like that, the look in Angel's eyes when he faced off with Spike…

Spike ground his teeth together, frustrated. Maybe he was just looking for reasons to distrust Angel or an excuse to be cynical. Buffy was right. He'd been focusing on the bad instead of the good lately, too insecure to believe her when she said she'd come back for him, that she loved him and wanted him to come home with her. Deciding he needed to stop worrying and focus on the here and now, Spike straightened up and was about to leave when he finally paid attention to what he was seeing on Angel's desk; a sheet of paper resting on the polished wood surface. It caught his attention because it was on the opposite side of the desk from where Angel sat, unusual since the poof liked to keep his paperwork in order since becoming head honcho at the firm.

It was probably nothing, Spike told himself, but continued walking towards it, stopping at the edge of the desk and picking it up. A quick scan at the wording informed him that it was one of the incantations for the ritual. Another glance at the desk and Spike saw a note with the address of the church written on it he hadn't been able to see from his angle at the doorway. He was about to drop it when some of the wording on the incantation caught his eye. Frowning, he read it again, carefully this time. When he was done he had to read it again just to be sure, but he wasn't mistaken. Spike grabbed the note with the address on it and flew out the door.

***

It hadn't taken too long to reach the partially buried church, Our Lady of Sorrow, on the outskirts of the city. Every time they had an earthquake the church slipped just a little further into the ground. Luckily, it was still accessible or performing this ritual would have been much harder. Angel grabbed his bag from the car and made his way over to the church.

The rear of the building had sunk down into the ground but the main entrance was still functioning. Two statues guarded the main doors, one was broken but the other was still intact, the angel statue had its head raised heavenward and hands outstretched. The weatherworn stone had worn away the statue's features, leaving it faceless. Angel looked it up and down before heading inside.

"That's not creepy at all," he muttered.

The sound of the doors closing echoed around the building with a boom. Angel turned to see all the broken pews, cracked stone pillars and the picture frames lying on the floor. Inside, two more Angel statues stood either side of him, these ones looking at the floor with their hands clasped, stone tears running down their faces.

"Where angels weep," Angel said softly.

He began to maneuver his way through the church towards where the altar should be. Stumbling over broken pillars and pews, he slid down the sloped floor where the church was sunken down. He saw the altar, intact still, but didn't see any symbols or ritual circles on the floor around it. Thinking about it, the angle of the church would make performing the ritual pretty impossible. Frowning Angel took a closer look around at his surroundings. Maybe he was missing something.

Eventually he spotted it; a corridor leading off to the right, easy to miss with the pillars and only visible from behind the altar. Making his way over, Angel saw an old but solid wooden door lying on the floor, the hinges having been broken in what must have been a particularly strong quake, bits of stone lying around it. It left the passageway behind the door open. Steps led down into a dark cavern. Angel found a torch in a sconce just inside the door. He rooted around in the bag for a lighter and lit the torch. The flame cast an eerie glow into the gloomy passage, making shadows dance along the walls.

Carefully picking his way through the darkness, one hand on the torch, the other against the wall and the bag slung over his shoulder, Angel reached the bottom, and found himself in what appeared to be a much older looking room beneath the church, and one that was apparently unaffected by the earthquakes aside from the twisted passage and the badly damaged steps. Angel could feel the presence of strong magic, which probably explained why the room was so undamaged. The space he stood in was large and seemed to stretch on forever. Figures lined the aisle to the altar that stood at the far end of the chamber. Angel raised his torch.

"Great," he murmured, "more angel statues. And I thought the one outside was creepy."

These statues all held the same pose, hands covering their faces, heads bowed, but with small gaps between their fingers. All Angel could see between those gaps were dark shadows, but it gave him the disturbing sensation that they could see him. Each angel stood at the head of your characteristic, uncomfortable looking wooden pew. Red curtains with gold trim were draped across the walls. Angel began the long walk to the altar.

As he approached, the sensation of being watched grew and so did the presence of magic, draping itself around him, constricting him. Angel grimaced and kept moving forward. He sighed in relief when he reached the end of the pews and the angel statues and couldn't help glancing behind him to check that he was alone. Shaking his head at his own paranoia, he turned and surveyed the area around the altar more carefully.

The first thing he took note of was a huge cross covered in gold leaf hanging on the wall in front of him. He averted his gaze to see what he supposed was a baptismal font to one side. Walking up the two stone steps in front of him he walked over to the font and saw that it was half filled with holy water—at least he assumed it was holy water. That was part of what the ritual required that Wes said he'd be able to find here, and he wasn't going to stick his hand in it to make sure. A chalice and candles rested on the altar, and more candles sat in various stands around the room. Turning his attention to the flagstones, Angel quickly spotted the golden ring inlaid in the floor. Not far away from that he found a stone with an unusual symbol carved into it. The stone seemed loose.

Dropping the bag, he got down on his hands and knees and began prying the stone upward with a knife he had in his pocket. Grabbing a hold of the stone after raising it a fraction, Angel pulled it up and slid it to one side. A gust of wind blew up into his face and seemed to grow in intensity as it rushed through the room, causing the curtains to wave back and forth. The breeze whistled through the parted fingers of the angel statues. The noise became a mournful keening that quickly filled the chamber before slowly dying away into silence again.

Well that explains the weeping angels—sort of, Angel thought, slowly turning back to the box and shaking off the unsettling feelings that remaining in the church was giving him.

He opened the box and lifted out one of the items inside, a circular metal disc with a raised symbol on one side. He rubbed his thumb over the symbol, an inverted triangle with a horizontal line running through the triangle's base, the symbol for earth, one of the branding disks mentioned in the ritual for the full cleansing. It was warm to the touch. Angel placed the disc back in the box and pushed it aside. He unzipped the duffel bag and began removing the herbs and candles and other essential items to begin the ritual.

***

Buffy hopped up from her seat as Fred entered with an armful of folders, a couple of vials of sedative and a few samples of—something. When Fred struggled to get inside Buffy rushed over to help the head of the science department with her burden.

"Thanks. You think I'd be used to hauling stuff around with me by now but nope, still clumsy," Fred said, making her way to a nearby table and setting down the pile of stuff in her arms.

Buffy put the rest of Fred's haul on the table as well.

"Wow, I think I've carried fewer weapons to a final battle," she commented as she cast an eye over the spread of research material on the table.

"Oh, probably," Fred replied with a chuckle "I get so involved with stuff sometimes I seem to pile on the work. Right now I'm looking for anything that could help predict when a person gets affected and hopefully find a way to prevent or delay it."

"And?" Buffy asked.

"And, I got nothin' we can use yet," Fred said, her shoulders slumping, "but I'm still working on it.

"Well that's good," Buffy said, in an attempt to sound encouraging, "we could use all the help we can get right now."

Buffy glanced at Dawn again who was beginning to whimper and toss her head from side to side as if having a nightmare.

"That's why you and Spike are going to round up our rogue employees, right?" Fred asked, beginning to arrange her research into some form of order.

"Yep. Might as well be of some use. Not exactly used to bench warming when it comes to apocalypses and prophecies," Buffy said, turning back to Fred. "Speaking of Spike, any chance you know where he's gotten to?"

"Spike?" Fred asked, frowning, "he was on his way down here before me. I was wondering why he wasn't here actually. I thought maybe he'd gone to help security while you waited for me."

"No," Buffy said, frowning as well. "He hasn't come back yet."

"Maybe he went ahead and figured you'd meet up with him," Fred suggested, shrugging.

"Maybe," Buffy said, but she wasn't so sure. "I think I'll go look for him. He hasn't been acting like himself lately."

"You mean—" Fred began before Buffy cut her off.

"No, I don't mean that. I don't think it's the amulet, just—I'm gonna go find him, are you sure you're okay to stay here and look after them?" Buffy asked, gesturing to Dawn and Andrew.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Don't worry, I got it covered."

"Thanks," Buffy said, rushing for the door. "Oh, and you should probably…" she gestured at the door.

"Lock it behind you," Fred said with a smile and a nod "I got it."

Buffy nodded and disappeared out the door, heading for the lobby first and hoping she'd find Spike close by, preferably not gone crazy from the amulet, though she was more concerned it was something else. His complaint of a headache earlier concerned her and she'd be happier once she found him.

***

With the preparation of the ritual circle complete, the herbs still smoldering, the candles surrounding it in their proper places and flickering in the darkness of the chamber, Angel took the bag containing the shards of the amulet and poured them out into the centre of the circle. Tossing the bag aside, he gathered some dirt from the stone floor in his hand, sprinkling it over the amulet.

"With earth, I reconstruct this object. I solidify that which is broken."

The flames of the candles around him danced furiously and the shadows surrounding the circle seemed to elongate. Angel cast a wary glance at the large cross looming over him from its position on the wall. It seemed threatening in the eerie light. He decided not to look at the angel statues, not that he was scared. Turning would only feed his paranoia. Instead he focused on the next element.

He located the chalice he'd taken from the altar which he'd used to scoop up some holy water from the baptismal font and poured it over the shards, careful not to spill any on himself, wary of where it trickled off the shards.

"With water, I cleanse this object. I purify it of its darkness."

The shards of the amulet began to glow faintly and sizzle. Steam rose from the pile in front of him. Angel set aside the chalice.

At least it's a genuine ritual.

Next was fire. That was easy enough. He picked up a white candle, lit it, and tilted it, bending the flame towards the broken shards.

"With fire, I burn the evil from this object. I consume that which does not belong in flame," he murmured quietly.

The flame flickered and grew, engulfing the black shards of the amulet and Angel blinked at the unexpected rush of heat. He blew out the candle and placed it down, blinking to regain focus. Angel watched as the glow from shards increased slightly.

It was time for the final element; air. Trickier since he didn't actually breathe, but he figured it would work the same way even though his lungs wouldn't trade oxygen for carbon dioxide. He doubted that would matter for this. Bending lower, Angel sucked in a large breath and released it slowly over the amulet. The glow increased.

"With air, I breathe life into this object. I restore the energy that was taken from it."

The glow became a bright light that illuminated the circle and Angel shielded his eyes from it. When it had died down he blinked a few times to clear his vision, and found the amulet lying in front of him, no longer in shards. It was pulsing, and cracks were still visible. He had to complete the ritual soon or the amulet would eventually shatter and they'd be back to square one. Angel licked his lips and hesitated.

He knew what came next. This was the part where he was supposed to pour his blood on the amulet and bind himself to it, restoring the balance and putting a stop to the madness spreading at Wolfram and Hart. He pinched the bridge of his nose, everything that had happened since he'd accepted the job at the law firm to protect Connor running through his mind. He thought back to his past, everything he'd done, the pain he'd endured and the pain he'd caused others. He thought about those suffering right now because of what the amulet had done…what bringing Spike back had done. It was time, time to end it.

Angel pushed his thoughts away and reached for the next item required. He placed the wooden lid down and pulled out the disc with the earth symbol, placing it on top of a small fire he'd made next to him earlier, now hot enough for its purpose, careful to avoid letting his clothing catch fire. While he waited for the disk to heat, he shrugged out of his jacket and started unbuttoning his shirt, running through the incantation in his head.

He had only two buttons undone when something smashed into the fire, knocking the disc out of the flames and sending it rolling across the flagstones. Embers flared up and Angel jumped up to avoid them, stepping back out of the circle and narrowly avoiding knocking over the amulet. As long as everything else remained in order, the ritual would still work, but it wouldn't hold half finished for long. Angel spotted the hunk of rock that had been thrown at the fire and turned to face the darkened aisle of the church. A figure was walking towards him, drifting through the shadows. It stepped into the light and Angel snarled.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what I just found. A traitor caught red handed. I can't help but wonder what sorry excuse you have. I'm just dying to hear you talk your way out of this one, mate."

"Spike," Angel said, his eyes narrowing as the younger vampire came even closer, pausing just below the steps up to the altar.

"Oh come on. As if I'd miss the big show. Angel takin' one for the team," Spike said, sneering." Only that's not what it looks like from here."

Angel glared at his grandchilde, who glared right back. Performing this ritual was going to take longer than expected. Both vamps stared each other down, the tension mounting. Everything in the chamber became quiet and still.

"So," Angel began. "Here we are."